New staff

08/30/13

New academic year brings new staff

Fifteen staff members—including seven graduate assistant coaches in athletics—are
starting their first full academic year at Bluffton University.

·Phillip Birkey is a new admissions counselor whose responsibilities include recruitment of Mennonite
students. A 2008 Bluffton graduate in economics, he previously worked for Mennonite
Central Committee in Bangladesh for more than four years.

· Jessica Brackman is also an admissions counselor, covering about half of Ohio’s counties plus several
other states. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Ohio State University-Lima
and, for the last three years, has been a middle school teacher at Pandora-Gilboa.

· Karen Bontrager is the new assistant to the registrar. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees
in English from Bluffton—in 2004—and Southern Illinois University, respectively. She
is a former recruiting specialist at The Right Thing in Findlay, Ohio.

· Carrie Mast is administrative assistant for Bluffton’s Graduate Programs in Business. She is
also an alumna, receiving a bachelor’s degree in English education in 1995 and a master’s
degree in organizational management in 2003. She worked for the Allen County Board
of Developmental Disabilities from 1995-2007 and has been active in several capacities
at First Mennonite Church, Bluffton.

· Ralph Patterson is lead custodian of the university event complex, which includes Founders Hall, Marbeck
Center and the Sommer Center. He worked previously in building maintenance and shipping
and receiving at the Fostoria, Ohio, facility of Spring Valley turf products.

· Terry Peebles is an assistant football coach. He has a bachelor’s degree from Hanover (Ind.) College—where
he was an NCAA Division III All-American quarterback in 1994 and 1995—and a master’s
degree in education from Waynesburg (Pa.) College. He comes to Bluffton from Carthage
College, Kenosha, Wis., where he was the football team’s offensive coordinator.

Graduate-assistant appointees in athletics are:

· In women’s basketball, Brianna Calver, who earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts last May from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell
and was a four-year letter winner in basketball there.

· In football, MattGrieb, a three-year football letter winner at Ohio Dominican University, where he also
received a bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2012 and is currently completing
his master of business administration degree.

· In athletic training, Jeremy Jones, a 2013 graduate of Ohio Northern University in athletic training. Jones was a wrestler
at ONU, qualifying twice for the NCAA Division III national championships and earning
Scholar All-American honors last season.

· In soccer, Christopher Matteo and Meghan Taucher. Matteo received a bachelor’s degree in sport management in 2012 from Guilford College,
Greensboro, N.C., while Taucher graduated from Urbana (Ohio) University this year
with a bachelor’s degree in general management.

· In volleyball, Brittany Roth, who played volleyball at Bluffton and earned a bachelor’s degree from the university
in 2010 in early childhood education and as an intervention specialist. She has taught
for the last two years at Norwell Middle School, Fort Wayne, Ind.

· In football and baseball, Tyler Wright, a 2013 Bluffton graduate in mathematics education. He was a three-year letter winner
as a Bluffton quarterback and added two letters in baseball. He was an honorable mention
all-conference choice during his final season in both sports.

Also hired as a graduate assistant is 2001 Bluffton alumna Kendra (Johns) Nickel, who is working in the Center for Career and Vocation (formerly the Career Development
Center). Her Bluffton bachelor’s degree is in business administration, with a management
concentration.

New to campus as well is Ravi-Kumar Knutson, a Bowling Green State University graduate student who will serve as Ramseyer Hall
director and Learning Resource Center assistant during a two-year internship toward
his master’s degree in college student personnel. He holds a bachelor’s degree in
sociology from the University of Texas-Dallas.